


In Quiet Moments

by Cain124



Series: We Build Our House In the Forest [2]
Category: The Avengers (2012), Thor (Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-03
Updated: 2013-04-26
Packaged: 2017-12-07 08:29:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/746441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cain124/pseuds/Cain124
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Loki comes back to visit Emerson and is reminded that she is fragile.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

            It was morning when he returned. Months after the first meeting, the heat of the summer had been replaced by the cool winds of fall. The leaves on the massive oak tree were now copper, many of them fluttering violently in the wind not quite ready to slough off this mortal coil and fall to the ground. The sun was rising slowly in the East. Loki took a slow calming breath. Taking in the chill with pleasurable anticipation. It was the first time that he had a moment to himself in months. His personality demanded that he have time away from the noise and crowds of the court. It was so hard to achieve solitude as a prince. Even as the second son there were responsibilities he was expected to attend to. Taking his time to enjoy the silence of the early morning Loki made his way up to the street to the house that Emerson had pointed out.

            It was small; at least to Loki it seemed so. The yard was large with another great oak, it’s branches spreading out across much of the corner lot. Loki touched the its trunk wondering briefly which window was his friend’s. He did not have long to wait. A familiar rustling came from the coppery leaf covered limbs from above him. The upside-down smiling face of Emerson popped into his view before Loki could see the rest of her.

            “Hey,” the golden torc fell against her chin, making Loki smile. “I saw the storm.”

            She slipped down and landed with a small thud by his feet. The top of her head barely came up to the middle of his chest. Loki took a few moments to take in her mop of curly hair the too large torc sitting awkwardly on her collar bones the black hoodie the was stretched over the white cast on her left arm.

            “What happen to you?” all the humor that Loki had been filled up with before left him in that instant. “Who did this? Tell me.”

            “I fell,” She tilted her head still smiling. “Nobody did this, but me.”

            She grabbed his hand. Loki felt the rough plaster rub against his palm and he was shocked by how fragile this strange little creature really was. His heart clinched.

            “I’m supposed to go to school today but I wanna hang with you,” She pouted up at him. 

            “Won’t your family worry about you my darling Emerson?” Loki was still fuming over his confidante being hurt, even if it was her own fault. “You are hurt. Should you not be tended to day and night until you are well and truly healed?”

            Emerson hummed a little to herself and pulled him to the wooden swing hanging from one of the lower branches. She hopped quickly onto the seat letting go of his hand and pushing her self in a small arc. Loki took up his place behind the swing and began to push her. Emerson grasped the ropes giggling as she flew higher and higher. Loki watched her carefully.

            “I don’t get to stay at home,” She sighed heavily. “I have to go back to school now that it is in a cast. The doctors said it could have been much worse. Mom and Dad yelled at me. They said that I was lucky that I didn’t die. They talked about cutting down my tree.”

            Loki couldn’t see her face from where he was standing, but the hitch in her voice told him everything he needed to know. His anger was bubbling up again.

            “That won’t happen Emerson,” Loki’s voice took on a sinister edge he was not used to hearing out of his own voice. He had heard the same hard edge in Thor’s battle yell. “No one will be taking this from you.”

            He continued to push the swing. The sun still creeping slowly up the horizon, Loki found himself hoping that the sun would stop its ascent. He knew what the proper thing would be to send her off to school. Let her realm’s educators teach her languages and history, but he could do that. He knew that he was justifying kidnapping her even if it was only for the day. He knew that the All-Father would have his hide if he ever found out, for all he knew Heimdall had already gone to Odin. Emerson leaned back at that moment and smiled up at him.

            “I think we could take the day,” Loki grinned down at her. “I could teach you more than your crusty old teachers.”

            “They aren’t so old really,” Emerson said in her matter-of-fact way. “We could go to the park.”

            “I was thinking somewhere a bit more adventurous,” Loki grinned wickedly. “Would you like to see what it’s like inside the storm.”

            Emerson looked down at her feet calmly and then up at the sky.

            “I think I should get some shoes then.” She hopped off the swing on an upward stroke sailing through the air for a few seconds before hitting the ground and rolling. Loki felt a spike fear shoot up his spine only settling once he heard the pleats of laughter ringing out of her. “I should leave a note or something.”

            “No need darling,” He offered her his hand. “What good is my magic if I cannot use it at a time like this? Hhhhmmm?”


	2. Chapter 2

She never asked where they were going. She followed him through portal after portal. Following the secret paths he had been taking through the realms for centuries, he led her into one of the great forests of Alfiem. The trees stretched upward, their branches reaching out almost touching the ground. Emerson breathed deeply, letting the woodsy smell fill her.  Loki found a tree where the branches twisted low creating a strange little alcove for them to rest.

            Emerson tried to swing herself up into the higher branches of the ancient tree. Loki grimaced as he watched her struggle with her cast against the rough bark. He waited impatiently for her to ask for help. He knew what it was like to have someone assume you could not do something.

            “Are you going to help me or not?” Emerson tilted her head towards Loki. “I need a boost. “

            Loki smiled at her indulgently.  Making his way to her side swiftly, he lifted her easily on to the lower branch, and watched as she balanced herself. After some time of waiting on the ground Loki’s worry got the best of him and he made his way up the maze of branches behind her.

            “I think this is high enough,” Loki felt odd trying to limit her young friend, but he was constantly reminded of her fragility. “I do not wish for you to be injured again. I do not believe my magic could mask a second broken arm from your parents.”

            She pouted slightly, but did as he asked, carefully moving to lean against the stout trunk. She slunk her legs over either side of the branch. They spent the long peaceful morning talking about their families working through the knots of personal problems that built up in the absence of their much-needed confidants. Loki was eased by the simple problems of her youth. He could fix her troubles more easily than her could fix his own. He could even see the reflections of himself in the image of her life. She listened with wrapped attention as he spoke, and he basked in the warmth of her affection. The light shifted, casting speckled shadows across Loki’s face alerting him to the drifting hours they had spent talking.

            “We should get you food,” Loki grinned and leaped down and held his hands above him, a clear gesture for Emerson to follow, which she did without hesitation.

             “What should we get?” she was smiling brightly.

            It was constantly shocking to him that she could bend with the ever-changing tide of circumstance.  She moved from one thing to another so easily and he felt jealousy creep into the corners of their friendship. He had seen Thor live from moment to moment in a similar way. Loki could feel a darkness clouding his heart, but Emerson chose that moment to grab his hand.

            “Nope,” she tugged his hand sharply demanding his attention. “I know that face. I bet if you eat something you’ll feel better, come on.”

            It was such a simple thing, but it worked. Loki had always slunk into his impressive mind to escape, but Emerson refused to allow him to hide from her.

            “This realm has fruit the likes of which you have never tasted.” Loki gripped her hand tightly. “Then I think we should work on something useful hmmm? Perhaps I shall try to teach you the All-tongue. Then we can venture into an inhabited place of the realm, would you like that?”

            Emerson nodded and followed Loki deeper into the forest.


	3. 3

            As Emerson sat on her bed, Loki drifted around her room mindlessly letting his fingers stroke the spines of books. He stopped at her closet grimacing at the second hand state of her wardrobe and made a mental note to do something about it. He felt confined in the small space. Emerson was setting out trinkets and the last of the fruit they had enjoyed on Alfiem.  The fruit gleamed pearlescent in the dimly lit room. The sunlight changing colors, turning to a warm golden glow that caught the shades of copper in Emerson’s hair.

            “What will my parents think I was doing today?” Emerson didn’t seem concerned.

            “They will be under the impression that you went to school like any other day,” Loki was looking at a picture of her family. “Nothing too ostentatious, darling.”

            His eyes were glazed with distain as he took in the images of her family smiling up at him from the photograph. Their faces seemed to mock him from within the small frames. They proclaimed him an intruder to this world the same as any other. He disliked them instantly and he hated that in each picture Emerson’s face shown with happiness. Perhaps it was not the same happiness he had seen in the forest, but his jealously ate at him. Part of him understood that he could never stay here, never be a part of her life the same way as her family, but he wanted to be her family.

            “Mmmm,” Emerson fiddled with a green scarf Loki had bartered for her in a market place. “You are marvelous.”

            The smile she gave Loki was only for him. It stripped him of his petty insecurities. Her parents didn’t get to see the freedom flashing like fire in her irises. They were the outsiders in this world and Loki liked that idea. Emerson could have a secret life, he could have a secret life, and they could be family. They could be better.

            “What are best friends for?” He placed a chaste lingering kiss on her forehead. “I am a god you know.”

            “A god?” Emerson had wrapped the scarf around her head like a turban, her face serious. She jumped up her scarf still perched atop her head, surprisingly steady. She slinked in a circle around Loki, looking him up and down.  “I can see it. Don’t slouch. Hold your chin up, and walk like everyone should kneel to you.”

            Loki’s back slammed straight, his head tilting up. He grinned devilishly. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it has been taking me so long to get these out. I am working on finals and all the stress that comes with them. Also there will be more to this series.

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own any of the Avengers or any Marvel characters.


End file.
